The inaugural ATP is in the books. The tournament produced some incredible matches, but also has proven to unfair to players.  Top players such as Reilly Opelka and  John Millman are not happy about the ATP cup. Here are some things that players have complained about. Consider the following data points.

ATP Cup is worth more than winning a 500 event

ATP Cup counts for an extra tournament on your ranking

Only 2 players from a country can play the ATP Cup

World Number 36 Reilly Opelka said, “For example, I’m (36) in the world. I’m not going to play because I’m the second or third-highest ranked American, and only the top two guys play,”  Opelka strongly feels that the ATP Cup should not have any ranking points since only two singles players from each country are allowed to play.

Australian player John Millman wrote on Twitter, “Every player has the chance to make the World Tour Finals and this is how it is justified as an extra tournament. When the ATP Cup was introduced it was announced that it would be included as an extra countable tournament. Meaning those who play it get a 19th countable tournament or if you play that and qualify for the ATP Tour Finals you will have 20 countable tournaments. For every player who doesn’t qualify for neither tournaments their ranking will be comprised of 18 tournaments. As opposed to the World Tour Finals the ATP Cup isn’t an even playing field in that it is harder to qualify for nations that have multiple players.”

Men’s doubles world number one Robert Farah has tested positive for a banned substance.  He had pulled out of the Australian Open earlier citing “personal reasons”.

Farah said, “A few hours ago the ITF informed me of the presence of Boldenona in a test that I did on Oct. 17, 2019 in Cali. Two weeks before the test mentioned, I did an anti-doping test in Shanghai which had a negative result. And I was also tested at least 15 other times randomly in the international circuit throughout the year with the same negative result. As stated by the Colombian Olympic Committee in 2018, this substance is found frequently in Colombian meat and may affect athletes’ test results.”

Prior to September 2016, players provisionally suspended by ITF anti-doping could choose to announce it  or not . If a player got off with time served, no one would ever know that they got suspended for failing a drug test.

There is no way to spin this.  This is a dark moment for the sport.  The numbre 1 doubles player failing a doping test is a stain on the sport.  But at least the ITF is transparent, and has publicly announced the results of the test.